Looking for sparks of gold in daily life
(Dance, Arts, Fashion, Books...)

Friday, August 07, 2009

St Petersburg On The Amstel

The Hermitage, St Petersburg's legendary museum, has started a partnership with an Amsterdam venue by the Amstel canal. I heard about this on NPR's Art Talk - thanks, dear Edward Goldman! By now, regular readers on AUREA know about my passion for Russia; I actually just spent a couple of weeks re-reading War And Peace. So this weekend, as I am spending a couple of days in Amsterdam, I rushed to see their first lavish, exhibition, and wasn't disappointed.

Many divine items were displayed, especially ball gowns, dress uniforms and all kinds of accessories like silk shoes, spectacular jewelry, feathered fans, exquisite hats. I adore the children's adorable costumes of course... There were also collections of paintings and photographs.I bought a bunch of postcards (click on the top pic to enlarge) and a Danish novel, The Tsar's Dwarf, about a dwarf who was given as a present to a Russian tsar.Can you spot my reflection in the poster?

SONIA - they were pretty much white, cream-colored except for the one with the pearls, which was gray.I didn't post any pics of the dresses that were more colorful, because the colors didn't come out well.

The costumes are gorgeous. I remember years ago going to the Armand Hammer Museum to see an exhibit on Catherine the Great. Truly amazing. They even had a couple of her Faberge eggs. Thanks for sharing these.